/*
**    Copyright (C) 2003-2010 Institute for Systems Biology
**                            Seattle, Washington, USA.
**
**    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
**    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
**    License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
**    version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
**
**    This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
**    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
**    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
**    Lesser General Public License for more details.
**
**    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
**    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
**    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307  USA
*/

package org.systemsbiology.util;

/**
 * This class defines the concept of a complex summator -- that is, a summation that is performed over dynamic objects
 *  with a definition of addition stapling them together. In most cases, this encapsulates the logic
 *  "foreach: +=" in a pithy, digestible package suitable for mathematical reasoning.
 *
 *  This class also requires that the additive properties of your objects are commutative and transitive. Should this
 *  not hold true, this class will operate in a manner following the input order for summation.
 * @author trobinso
 */
public interface ComplexSummator<T> {

	public void add(T a);

	public T total();

	public void clear();
}
